Sean’s movie thoughts

I added this film to the Second Chance Film festival.  I had basically the same opinion after the re-watch that I did after seeing it in theaters. The movie is kind of average, and I expected better from the fourth film in a franchise. It is not the start of a new franchise, the set up carries over from the first three films and Emma Thompson returns as the head of the organization from the third film. I think there was a photo of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in the background. I think the series missed Will Smith. I thought Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth were fine, I don’t think they were the problem but neither one is Will Smith. The aliens seemed less amazing but maybe after three previous movies that was bound to happen. Producer Walter Parks either re-wrote the script or had it re-written. The finale script was not the script that the cast or director signed up to make. Some people said to the Hollywood Reporter, without giving their names, that Parks watered it down...

There is an article in the  Hollywood Reporter  about Men in Black International and it seems to largely blame producer Walter Parkes. The article says that Parkes rewrote the script and implied that he watered it down. Parkes clashed with director F. Gary Gray and it got so bad that Gray nearly left the film. I don’t understand Hollywood. The studio had a script that they liked and Gray was coming off hit films the Fate of the Furious, and Straight Out of Compton. Gray’s star was on the rise. It seems like the wise thing to do as producer would be to support Gray and let him do his job. Parkes did not take that action, he re-wrote the script (or he had the script re-written) and continued updating it during filming. Parkes has been involved in the franchise from the first film, maybe he felt he understood it better than anyone else working on the new film. The article is a bit vague on some points but the article suggests Parkes resisted “modernizing” the franchise. I...

I liked John Wick 3 but I could see the gears working. There was one scene that became a fight because the movie would have gone too long without a fight otherwise. Also John at one point makes a decision but later reverses it and that change seems motivated by the need to have a stronger action sequence closing the movie. Men in Black International is getting mostly bad reviews. We will see how it does. I might go. I am considering it. Matt Singer on Screen Crush was more interested in Chris Hemsworth’s hair than anything else in the film. The new Shaft is getting reviews. Maybe I will skip it. I am not sure why there is a Shaft sequel in 2019. Why wasn’t there one earlier?

Maybe Robin Hood and King Arthur need to fight. Maybe that will get people to go to a King Arthur movie. Just kidding but watch to see if that happens in the next 5 years. I am not sure that why they would fight. Do people really want to see a Men in Black film without Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones? I guess we will find out. Although Jones kind of sat out a large part of the last movie but Josh Brolin played a younger version of Jones’ character. It has been a few years since the last Men in Black movie. I like the concept of Men in Black but I liked the pairing of Smith and Jones. I saw a video review of the new Fantastic Beasts movie that was just brutal. That movie has some problems, I will admit. I think it could have been better but I guess I felt more generous towards the film than the guy who made the video.